Broadcast television shows that feature news or other reports commonly include pre-recorded footage in which a party other than the broadcaster owns rights. (Although the term “footage” has origins in film, in the lexicon of modern broadcasting the term “footage” refers to recorded content without regard to whether it may be recorded on film, videotape, optical disk, solid-state memory, or other physical medium.) Typically, in accordance with a contractual agreement between the rights holder and the broadcaster, the broadcaster is required to provide monetary compensation to the rights holder for the use the footage in the show. For example, a professional sports organization may own rights to footage filmed of the organization's games. Accordingly, a television news or sports broadcaster, reporting on the results of a game or a related topic as part of a news or sports show, may be required to pay compensation to the sports organization for each instance in which a portion of a game is shown in a broadcast (show). The amount of the compensation is dictated by the contractual arrangement. The compensation may be based on a formula. In some instances, the formula can take into account the time interval between the time the footage was recorded and the time the show is aired (i.e., broadcast). For example, a rights holder may charge less for footage aired on a show within a few hours of a game having been played than the rights holder charges for the same footage aired on a show weeks or months later, as the former may be categorized as use of “news” footage while the latter instance may be categorized as use of “archival” footage. For this reason, broadcasters have long kept elaborate logs that associate each item of footage used in a broadcast with the corresponding rights holder, the date the footage was used, the context in which it was used, etc. At the end of a time period, e.g., monthly, quarterly, etc., the broadcaster reviews the logs and, for each rights holder, tallies the number of instances in which footage owned by that rights holder was used, and otherwise computes the amount of monetary compensation due to the rights holders in accordance with the contractually applicable rules.
During the process of producing shows, a large number of segments or “packages” are commonly created. A package is recorded content, i.e., video (which can include an audio track), that is intended to be used as a segment of a show. A show comprises a number of packages appended to one another.
A producer can review the packages that production assistants or others have created and select those that the producer would like to include in the show. This process may be aided by “cutsheets” that have been created for the packages. A cutsheet is a description of a package that lists, in time-sequential order, the elements that are included in the package, including footage, transitional elements, graphics, animations, effects, audio format, and running time. A cutsheet may have a timeline-like appearance, showing at what timepoints (relative to a timecode) in the package each element begins and ends.
A computer-based system that automates the process of creating cutsheets has been used. An “electronic cutsheet” generated by such a system can readily be shared among system users via a computer network. During production of a show, various members of the production team can access the cutsheets.
Once a producer has compiled a sequence of packages to be included in a show, a “playlist” (also referred to as a “rundown” or “running order”) can be created. The playlist lists, in time-sequential order, the packages that are included in the show, along with other pertinent information.
A computer-based or electronic broadcast newsroom control system (NCS) has been used to automate some of the above-described processes of creating packages, cutsheets, and show playlists. One of the most commonly used broadcast newsroom control systems is the Electronic News Production System (ENPS), available from The Associated Press. In ENPS, the rundown defines the basic organization of a news broadcast. In ENPS, a rundown can include packages (i.e., video, which can include an audio track), scripts, device control, production information, and other information. The term “device control” refers to the capability of the system to electronically interface with devices such as video and still-image servers, teleprompters, character generators, etc., through the Media Object Server (MOS) protocol. Newsroom personnel, such as writers, producers, directors, and on-air talent, can access ENPS through a suite of software applications running on client workstations.
Although a large number of packages are typically created during the process of producing shows, only a small percentage of the created packages are actually included in a show and aired. As broadcasters are only required to compute compensation for footage that is actually aired, broadcasters find it cumbersome and difficult to log and otherwise keep track of footage use where not all of the footage may need to be reported to rights holders. It would therefore be desirable to provide a system and method that facilitates footage reporting.